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CHAPTER I

ISLAND LIFE FROM 1898 TO 1922

Political and Economic Transformation of 1898

What are the Puerto Ricans doing? Why do they not take advantage of the blockade to rise up massively? It is important that when the first American troops arrive they are received by Puerto Rican forces, waving the flag of independence, this should be the reception. The Americans should cooperate, at this good moment, to our liberty; but our country should not contribute to annexation. If Puerto Rico does not act with speed, it will forever be an American colony.1

Ramón Emeterio Betances

The first shot was fired at 12:10 pm, May 10, 1898.2 Captain Angel Rivero of the Spanish artillery garrisoned at El Morro fortress fired against the cutter Yale.3 The real battle was fought two days later, on May 12. Rivero wrote4 : a hail of cannon fire, screaming like a freight train, flew over our heads, it was a real tempest of iron. At sea, where day was breaking, the silhouettes of enemy ships were visible, lit up from time to time by cannon fire.5

By December1898 the island was formally relinquished by the Spanish throne.6 For the United States it was the beginning of an era of expansion and military assertion. The acquisition of the former Spanish colonies of Cuba, Puerto Rico and the Philippines were strategic moves designed to strengthen American position in this hemisphere, and the rest of the world.7 For Puerto Rico the Spanish-American War of 1898 signaled the end of an era. Four centuries of Spanish domination ended on December 10 with the signing of the Treaty of Paris. Ironically it came at a time when the Cortes in Madrid were granting increasing autonomy to its possessions.8 The Twentieth century began early, and with a bang.

In Washington there no hesitation about what to do with Puerto Rico. By April of 1896 the 54th Congress had authorized the President to intervene in the Cuban "situation". When William McKinley came to office the idea of American expansionism was not new. Grover Cleveland lost to McKinley in part because of his hesitation over intervening in the Cuban insurrection that Spain was brutally putting down. By January of 1896 the Naval War College had already drawn plans for war with Spain. Attacking Puerto Rico and Cuba were considered the best options because it provided a strategic advantage for the U.S. On July 16, 1897 McKinley appointed Stewart Woodford as ambassador to Spain. Woodford carried a note pressuring the Spanish government to grant independence to Cuba. Although the Queen of Spain signed decrees of autonomy and greater liberties for Puerto Rico and Cuba, these concessions were not enough to quell the Cuban insurrection, thus providing propents of intervention in the U.S. with more ammunition. The Spanish-American war was a disaster for Spain. It's Army and Navy were utterly destroyed by the U.S. armed forces, and Spain was forced to accept humiliating terms including the cession of Puerto Rico, Guam and other territories.

Federal authorities felt that though the benefits of democracy must be bestowed to the natives of these territories, they were clearly not ready for self rule. In Puerto Rico, political leaders were split into two main factions: those pushing for independence, and those seriously seeking some form of annexation to the United States. It was clear that the authorities in Washington were not considering independent home rule for their newly acquired territory.9 Immediately after the American occupation began in 1898 the economy of Puerto Rico fell in a massive slump. The net effect of moving from the old Spanish currency to American coin was devastating for the islanders.10 The loss of trade with its former ruler, and with the neighboring Cuba, was a serious blow. The American market was not opened to island products and high tariffs were slapped on any product imported into the mainland. To make matters worse 1899 brought the most destructive hurricane of the island's history. San Ciriaco, named after Saint Cyrus, plowed through the country leaving in its wake devastation, hunger, disease, and death.11

The island's economy was highly dependant on agriculture. Coffee, tobacco and sugar cane were its main exports. It also suffered a loss when the Spanish "situado", the tribute sent to the throne by the colonies in the new world, was rerouted. Commercial activity had been completely controlled by the Spanish government, who imposed taxes and protected the interest of its nationals.12 The American authorities had to deal with the question of Puerto Rico's political future and its role in U.S. diplomatic and military strategy. The first important hurdle for the establishment of a permanent relationship with Puerto Rico was the granting of U.S. citizenship to the islanders. Washington, however, was in no hurry to act on this issue.13 Only after the specter of World War One appeared in full view, and the obvious strategic and tactical need for the island was established, did the American congress act on this issue.14

On February 20, 1917 the Jones Act was passed, it granted American citizenship with all its rights to Puerto Ricans.15 Enactment of this law created the necessary juridical and political conditions for the establishment of an American style of government. Legislative, executive, and judicial branches based on the federal model were created. The constitution of the United States became the law of the land, superseding any local law not in agreement with its statutes or case law. The stage was now set for the most important question facing Puerto Ricans in this century; that of its ultimate political status.16 The transformation of the island's economy was complete by the 1920s. The agrarian model of bourgeois gentlemen farmers and subsistence sharecroppers gave way to the large corporations that now bought and controlled large sections of productive land.17 Sugar became the biggest and most important export crop, at the expense of producing agricultural products for local use. Huge tracts of land, bought and operated by absentee landlords, were set aside for the production of "king sugar".

Whole communities were uprooted and forced into exile as the living conditions on these plantations were tantamount to slavery. Unemployment was rampant, as the weak economy could not make use of all available workers. A huge wave of emigration was triggered, most were bound for the American mainland, where a new chapter in the history of the Puerto Ricans would be written.

Cultural Roots

Although Puerto Rico was thoroughly Spanish in its culture and outlook, the island had its own criollo (creole) identity. This culture was strongly influenced by the mixture of three racial groups: the native Taino population, the slaves imported from Africa, and the Spanish settlers who came to exploit the new world.18 Each contributed to the establishment of a culture distinctly Puerto Rican. A touch of arabic influence is also visible in the cultural and physical heritage of the island's population.
Before the American Invasion, a learned bourgeoisie and a handful of nobles handled the day to day affairs of the throne on the island. Spanish officials were named by the crown and sent as high ranking dignitaries to handle political, military and judicial matters

As in mainstream Spanish culture, life revolved around the church. Intellectual and artistic activity was the prerogative of an educated elite who had wealth and connections, and could afford to travel to Europe for education. Music, however, was an omnipresent fixture of all classes in Nineteenth century Puerto Rico. Church and religious festivities had their own traditions and songs. Many churches had instrumental ensembles that provided music for every occasion. This music was central to liturgical and secular celebrations. Much of it has been preserved, and many of the traditional celebrations are still held, forming a vital link to the island's history.

Dance music and romantic ballads were much in vogue. Most of the music was by local composers and musicians but some was brought over by artists, merchants, emissaries, civic figures, and travelers that visited the island from time to time. Out of the nineteenth century salons of the upper class came one of the great musical traditions of Puerto Rico: the Danza. A product of the mid 19th century, it is said to be a cross between the Cuban "Habanera" and the Spanish "Danza". It developed a tradition and style all its own in the hands of local musicians. Despite the fact that the composers of Danzas were mostly self taught, they wrote the music down and cultivated the genre thoroughly. Its roots are still debated but the consensus is that it represents one of the treasures of Puerto Rican culture.

The music is structurally simple, the form invariably remains the same. It is divided into two sections, Paseo and Danza. The first section allowed the couples to parade around the ballroom, before seated spectators, and finally take their position on the dance floor. The latter section is the dance itself. The music can be quite complex from a harmonic and rhythmic standpoint. The use of written out hemiola, and the "elastic" feel of triple meter over duple meter gave the music a charming tropical lilt. The Folk music of the lower classes was divided by geographical region. The music of the mountain, with its use of modal music, of instruments like the guitar, cuatro, mandolin and bordonúa, was a direct descendant of Spanish and Moorish influences. The Bombas and Plenas of the coastal regions were directly derived from African and Afro-Antillean roots. Unlike other locations, the slaves brought over by the Spanish "hacendados" were allowed to retain their musical and instrumental traditions to soften the terrible yoke of slavery.

Folk music permeates the many manifestations and levels of day to day Puerto Rican life. Songs for work, dirges and lamentations for the dead, historical events preserved in song, religious songs for the liturgy, and dance music for every occasion and social strata are part of this rich and diverse legacy. Of all the arts, music had the most profound and pervasive effect on island life and culture during the early part of the 20th century.

Music in Puerto Rico 1898-1922

At the turn of the century Puerto Rico was a sleepy backwater province, far away from the bustle of the metropolis. The total population of the island in 1898 was 953,000 souls. The three main cities were San Juan (32,048), Ponce (27,952) and Mayagüez (15,187).19 San Juan and Ponce were the richest and most important politically, though Mayagüez was notable for its intellectual activity. San Juan was the Spanish military garrison and the seat of power. Ponce, on the southern coast, was home to many wealthy merchants, European immigrants, and distinguished professionals. Of Mayagüez Fernando Callejo writes in 1915 "... Mayagüez..., was one of the towns with the greatest intellectual and social [sic] culture, because it's wealth... allowed many families to travel in Spain and other countries...music had many devotees and not only among the higher classes".20

All three cities were unfavorably affected by the change of government, but San Juan was hardest hit because of its dependence on bureaucratic jobs. The churches had to release their organists and choirmasters as the new government refused to pay their salary.21 Local Musicians were thus deprived of a traditional source of income. The loss of the Catholic Church as a wealthy and important patron meant the end of many bands, choirs and ensembles. Catherine Dower22 states that the change of the political structure had an adverse effect on the arts. "Under the patronage of the Church, composers had the opportunity to have their work performed during church services". Because of Spanish tradition and heritage, religious music was an important vehicle of expression for local composers; now the long tradition of music written for particular services came to an end.

Popular music included many different genres, some traditional and some newly fashioned. Dancing was a preferred pastime of the islanders and every town had its public dance halls and private salons. In a study published in 1976 Hector Campos Parsi describes popular music at the turn of the century23 : When the American armies invaded Puerto Rico in 1898, what was sung and danced, was, for the most part, product of local composers, adaptations from the folklore and, naturally, some novelty usually imported from Havana or Spain. Many of the favorite melodies of the period reached Puerto Rican towns in the trunks of Zarzuela companies. Up to that time, taste in Madrid affected taste in San Juan and Ponce. The romantic song for the most part had the style of a "habanera" and some reflected the influence of the songs of tropical Mexico. For dancing the festive danza, waltzes and guarachas predominated.24

With the American invasion came new dances that soon became the rage. The One step, the Two Step, the Ragtime, and later the Foxtrot and the Charleston were immediately adopted by musicians and audiences alike. Band directors such as Jaime Pericás (1870-1929) and Juan Ríos Ovalle included them along with the Danzas. By the 1920s a new type of romantic song appeared. It was typically interpreted by a duo of male singers, usually tenors, accompanied by guitars. This was the result of the influence of Colombian and Cuban song forms. In Cuba this type of song was generally performed by a male-female duo.

Many towns had ensembles that played for religious and secular affairs. Military, Fire Department, and Police bands gave many public performances on special holidays and important occasions. The Spanish army had the Granada regiment and later the Iberia regiment. The American army brought their own bands and hired many of the local musicians that had played for the previous regime.25 During the month of December, 1898, a committee was formed by Arteaga, Chavier, Carreras and others. The purpose of this "Asociación Musical de Puerto Rico" was to push the colonial government to establish an Institute of Music for the teaching of the art at a high level. Although they were politely received by the authorities, their request went nowhere.

From 1905 school bands were organized in some towns with the purpose of training musicians for bands and orchestras. Their expenses were met by local school boards and municipalities. However, this practice was stopped in 1910 when the Comptroller General notified the Secretary of Education that these payments were illegal. By 1913 Municipal law was amended so that townships could assign monies from their ordinary budget to cover expenses for "academies and bands. Dower notes that in the decade following the Spanish American War "...the old tradition of band concerts continued. At least twelve bands were active on the island."26 Francisco Verar, Luis R. Miranda, and Manuel Tizol established bands during this period. In her book, Dower describes the repertoire of these ensembles: Typical band programs from 1898 through 1910 included selections from Zarzuelas and operas, danzas by Morel Campos, Tavárez and other popular musicians of their day, and by the band directors themselves, and music by European composers. In the early part of the century American patriotic songs were included in the program.

Piano recitals were frequent and popular with the audiences. Among the many fine pianists active during the first decades of the century were Ana Otero, Jesús Muñoz, Alicia Sicardó, Trina Padilla, and Monsita Ferrer.27 Their repertoire was very similar to that of the concert bands. Scores by Beethoven, Scarlatti, Clementi, Chopin, and other great European great composers were difficult to obtain. This problem was solved in part by the Giusti family who decided to import piano music from Europe through their family business in San Juan. A dissertation by Annie Figueroa lists over a thousand musical events in San Juan alone for the period 1886-1898. She estimated that if events in Ponce and Mayagüez combined, reached that amount, it could be inferred that roughly two thousand advertised musical events took place for that period.28 For the period 1898-1910 Dower's study lists approximately 300 musical events in San Juan. This figure indicates a decline in musical activity if compared to Figueroa's statistics. Fernando Callejo saw this decline first hand: The change of nationality, brought as a consequence, demonstrated by the history of the great political upheavals of nations, the paralyzation, though not the regression, of artistic development, it's progress had been considerable on the island.29

By 1915 Callejo believed that outside of San Juan "the art of music has decayed considerably." His description of musical life on the island was quite gloomy for that period. He mentioned the towns of Humacao, Cabo Rojo, Comerío and Aguadilla as the only places were any artistic "progress" had occurred. Stylistic deterioration was also on Callejo's mind. Regarding the Danza, he rued the change of style and demeaning influences: ...regional music has lost much...the Danza, loftily cultivated by Tavárez, Heraclio Ramos, Dueño Colón and especially Morel Campos [now others] allowing themselves to be influenced ...introduced..the structure of exotic dances ...to dress it up in voluptuous African clothing. Callejo noted that many musicians were still performing and achieving prominence even during this period of decline. His book contains an index of professional and amateur musicians, singers and composers residing in Puerto Rico in 1915. Thirty four professional instrumentalists are listed.

He documented many such artists: Elisa Tavárez, Angel Morales, Jesús María Sanromá, Aristides Chavier, Amalia Paoli, and many others. Callejo mentions Sanromá's debut at 11 years of age, his impression was prophetic. He praises the "precocious pianist with no schooling: San Romá [sic] is one of the chosen to shine with brilliance in the firmament of universal art". Sanromá went on to be one of the worlds distinguished concert pianists. Shortly after his graduation from the New England Conservatory he earned the post of official pianist of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Sanromás artistic relationship with its conductor, Serge Koussevitzky, placed him in an advantageous position within the American musical scene. Not only did he perform the symphonic repertory with one of Americas most important conductors and orchestras, but also had an opportunity to work under the baton of famous composers such as Stravinsky, Prokofiev, Carlos Chávez, Paul Hindemith, and Walter Piston.30

Others that received international acclaim, include tenor Antonio Paoli, a Ponce native who eventually became one of the outstanding virtuoso tenors of the world. Paoli's career included performances with all the major opera companies of the time, premieres, recordings, and awards. His performances on the island were happenings that electrified the audiences. He is perhaps the most famous artist to emerge from Puerto Rico.

Another important artist, to achieve international recognition was pianist Gonzalo Nuñez. Born in Bayamón, he first studied with Tavárez and Morel Campos. He completed advanced studies with George Mathias and Le Couppey at the Paris Conservatoire. In 1873 he won first prize in piano at the Conservatoire competition. In the year 1875 he left Paris and settled in New York where he taught and gave many performances.31 Nuñez returned to the island for occasional concerts and performances of his work. He was also important as the teacher of other Puerto Rican artists such as Aristides Chavier and Julio Arteaga.

Arteaga graduated from the Paris Conservatoire in 1888 where he won first prize in piano accompaniment. At the Conservatoire Arteaga took piano lessons from Mathias, studied organ and improvisation with Cesar Franck and attended composition lessons with Massenet. Dower described him as being very active in the musical culture of San Juan. He performed solo concerts and participated in programs with other musicians. He taught at Sagrado Corazón College and privately. Aristides Chavier Arévalo (1867-1942) also studied with Mathias. Chavier was also a prolific composer who wrote Danzas as well as chamber music. In 1904 he won a diploma and a gold medal at the St. Louis exposition for a collection of seven compositions. Apparently he did not perform often, but he wrote many articles about music for local papers.

A pupil of the composer Tavárez who achieved international prominence was Francisco Cortés Gonzalo (1873-1950). A native of San Juan, he continued his studies at the Barcelona Conservatory, where he won first prize in piano and the silver medal for musical technique during his first year of study at that institution. In 1895 he was appointed Professor of Piano at the Joan of Arc College in Paris though he graduated from the Paris Conservatoire in 1897. Cortés returned to the island for many performances but he eventually settled in New York, where he died. Dower noted that these three artists were "...the last to study in Europe at government expense.... With the change in government this practice was discontinued." Callejo mentioned two casualties of this predicament: [Since] the subsidies awarded by the Provincial Council were eliminated, Miss Elisa Tavárez and young Angel Celestino Morales had to return to the island, they had studied at the Madrid Conservatory thanks to this support.32

Hector Campos Parsi's Forebears

Elisa Parsi Bernard, Campos mother, was born in Ponce on June 20, 1898; approximately a month after the American invasion. She was the daughter of Jean Jules Parsi and Natividad Bernard Ramirez de Arellano Dávila. Pictures of her youth from the familys collection show that she had the very black hair and dark eyes typical of Puerto Rican women. The fourth of six children, she had three older siblings: Ana María, Javier, and Julio; and two younger ones Francisca and Juan.

Jean Jules Parsi had come to the island to work on the first Puerto Rican railroad. He was the son of Devota Tadei of Marseilles and Jean Parsi. Jean Jules had come to the new world from Corsica. He came to work as an engineer at the construction of the Panama Canal but caught the yellow fever there. He was sent to the French island of Martinique to recover from the illness and there he was joined by his sister. After recovery he did not return to Panama but moved to Puerto Rico instead. In Puerto Rico he established close ties with another French settler, Jean Bernard. Monsieur Bernard was the proprietor of a horse drawn carriage factory, M. Bernard and Fils. The firm specialized in the construction of Landaus and "Quitrines", a type of Berlinetta common on the island at the turn of the century.

José Miguel Campos Fajardo, the father of Héctor Campos Parsi, was born in Ponce on December 1, 1900. He was the son of Juan Campos Acosta and Leonor Fajardo Martinez. His siblings were Leonor Mercedes (older), Ester and Enrique (younger). The Campos' were the owners of farmland in Adjuntas. There they grew coffee and oranges for export to Europe. The family also derived income from the manufacture and export of soap. They also invested in stocks and bonds. José Miguel was very athletic. He played soccer, tennis and loved cockfighting, a favorite sport of the period. During the 1910s Baseball was the game in town and Ponceños were big fans. José Miguel played for the home team and was an ardent fan. Only his love for the piano rivaled his enthusiasm for sports.

José Miguel Campos loved piano playing and could not bear to be without one. Friends and relatives remember him spending many hours at the instrument. His main interest were the Danzas of the time. He played them often and considered them a superior form of music. He also loved many of the popular songs of the time: tangos, waltzes, and latin romantic ballads. Jose Miguel would play the piano for silent movies and other entertainments in Ponce, family gatherings, and at parties.

Elisa Parsi and José Miguel Campos knew each other since childhood. They had a lot in common. They both belonged to the upper class of Ponce society and grew up in well known families. They were part of the first generation to grow up under American political and military domination, and the first to experience the cultural and political transition of the island. Both had taken music and piano lessons, Elisa from Federico Ramos33 , and José Miguel from Mercedes Arias. Their families were musically inclined and included several amateur musicians. At family gatherings Jules Parsi played the flute, Enrique Campos played violin, Julio, Elisa's brother played guitar and her uncle Esteban also played the flute. This tradition of family music making would continue with the younger generation. The family was a part of Ponce society and enjoyed the typical Puerto Rican love of dance, music and parties. After courting and a formal engagement, Elisa and José Miguel were married on December 3, 1921 at the Milagrosa Church. They settled at 31 Isabel Street in the heart of Ponce. The house is still there.